McPhee back in the mix
Strong start for the Moto3 veteran as rookies show promise
John McPhee kicked off his season in encouraging style as he collected strong points for fifth place in his return to KTM machinery. The Scot was playing catch-up all weekend after not getting fully comfortable aboard his Max Racing Husqvarna (a rebadged KTM) during preseason. “We explored a lot this weekend,” he said. “There were three different bikes on three different days trying to rule out a vibration we had.”
The 27-year old started slowly but recovered from tenth to sit in the leading group. Fifth and 1 second off the winner, was however, his limit. “On the brakes the bike isn’t bad. It’s more getting it turned and exiting the corner that we’re struggling with, especially with a new tyre. I need to manage the way I use the rear brake. But it’s always nice to leave Qatar with good points, it gets the ball rolling.”
There were promising signs for the all new British VisionTrack Racing Team over the weekend even if results were disappointing. Scott Ogden was attempting to hold onto preseason favourite Dennis Foggia but crashed out on lap seven. “I didn’t expect it to be so difficult in the first laps,” he said.
“They were doing stupid overtakes. But around lap five, I started closing on the group in front. I was trying too hard without slipstream and it sometimes ends up like this.”
Teammate Josh Whatley was frustrated to come home 22nd on his GP debut. “We’re quite down on power. In acceleration I come out of the corner behind them and as soon as we get to the straight, they gap me. But it’s a new bike for me. In a few races it should be better.”
Andrea Migno scored just his second GP win in his 134th start, holding off Sergio Garcia by 0.037s. Foggia was an impressive seventh despite being forced to start at the back of the grid and do two Long Lap Penalties for wayward antics in qualifying.